THE MAYOR AND UNEMPLOYMENT.

Evening Star, Issue 21054, 17 March 1932, Page 14

THE MAYOR AND UNEMPLOYMENT.

TO TILE EDITOR. Sir, —The mayor in iiis statement says that several hundreds of pounds collected by the Rev. L. B. Neale were spent in Christchurch in the purchase of boots for the unemployed, and maintains that if he had received the money it would have been spent in Dunedin. Let the citizens of Dunedin take their mind back to the time when the mayor was purchasing the furniture for his palatial office, and they will also see that the purchase was made in Christchurch. We would like to know if it really matters where the Rev. Mr Neale purchases the boots so long as lie can get them at a cheap rate, at the same time supporting the national, if not local, industry. If the citizens of Dunedin wish to support Mr Neale in his work there is no reason whatever why he should not carry on. The mayor’s statement leaves the impression that he wants nobody else to issue relief to the unemployed. Why? I believe that if the mayor’s depot and the Rev. Mr Neale’s are both supplying those in want, it is a positive proof that there is destitution in the city, and that the chief magistrate should direct his attention and energies not to the issuing of relief, but to the best means of solving the problem of unemployment. 'The heads of civic departments must realise that relief depots are the work of social bodies, and at the same time that the public of Dunedin has been -extraordinarily good in the past in their endeavour to supply needs. Surely the time lias now come when our mayor should call a special meeting of' those citizens interested in the welfare of their unemployed brothers to draw up a scheme to provide work and place it before the Government. 1 am of the opinion that the mayor should leave the depots to those who want to issue relief, and that he must take a definite stand and inform the Government that he is not prepared as mayor to carry on relief depots, but demands from the Government of the day work and fair treatment for his unemployed citizens. Should the mayor take this line of action he will be showing leadership and will not want for supporters. He will he doing far more in the interests of the city and its people than by issuing relief at St. Andrew street.—l am, etc., liitvAX O’Donnell. March 16.